Since 1861, the Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian provinces, which had once been the source of turmoil in China, had all settled down. Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian provinces originally had a large population but little land. After a series of immigration to Lanfang and Luzon, the total number of immigrants in the three provinces exceeded four million. After the Dutch East Indies was opened to China, the three provinces found themselves unable to move.
This was an external condition. The rise of cities had also led to internal migration. A large number of retired military personnel directly became urban residents. This change had greatly reduced the number of rural residents. The internal and external factors played a role at the same time, directly causing the situation in the Guangdong and Guangxi provinces and the rural areas in Fujian to change greatly. The increase in per capita land and the change in social organization led to the explosion of the mulberry tea industry in mountainous areas that were not suitable for growing crops.
For every advantage, there must be a disadvantage, not to mention that there were so many advantages. There were few people in the countryside, and the cash crops were abundant. There were a large number of people who were out of work in the city. In China's previous eras, this situation would inevitably lead to a serious food shortage.
The Central Government's previous efforts had finally paid off. By purchasing a large amount of rice from Vietnam and Siam, not only had the grain prices in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian stabilized, but they were also able to supply grain to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. In addition, palm oil, residue fermentation, coconut oil, and coconut powder were imported in large quantities, causing the livestock farming industry to explode. With the technology to store cans and fully popularize iron farming tools, the economic situation in the south was maintained at a rather high level, as if walking on a tightrope.
Wang Mingshan, the Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, and Pang Congcong, the Governor of the province, knew very well what had happened. With Vézé's analysis of the situation in Guangdong, they finally knew what had happened. Guangdong's economy was undoubtedly the highest point of the entire southern economy.
Other than Wang Mingshan and Pang Congcong, the other participant in this discussion was the "former" Organization Minister, who was also the next Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, Wei Changrong. After Wang Mingshan stepped down, Wei Changrong would take over as the Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee. Pang Congcong's successor would be chosen from the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the Deputy Governor. The central government had no intention of appointing anyone. If the two leaders of the Party and the Government were to come out of nowhere, it would not be good for the effective coordination of work. The Central Government, including the Organization Department, had the same view.
The discussion took place on the train. After all, they were officials at the level of the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee. They directly occupied a carriage. The seats in the carriage had been dismantled and transformed into a very good conference room. Wang Mingshan and Pang Congcong were quite excited. The two of them had a deep understanding of the tedious work of the provincial committee, but when Vézé explained the situation they were facing from a height that they had never reached before, they immediately felt enlightened. The tedious work used to make them feel annoyed. Sometimes, they would even complain, "Is the central government looking for trouble?" Now that this feeling had disappeared, all the work now revealed its own short-term purpose and long-term effect. Realizing that their work was actually a very important part of a huge long-term plan, the executor would naturally feel a strong sense of satisfaction.
With Wei Changrong's rank, he would definitely be present when the long-term plan was formulated. After talking about Guangdong's status in the country for a while, the topic cooled down a little. Wang Mingshan had directly asked Wei Changrong why he was sent to Guangdong to work. Wei Changrong smiled and said, "If you don't even have the experience of governing a place and don't know the work of the local officials, how can you do a good job in the personnel work?"
This clearly showed that Wei Changrong still wanted to go back to work in the Organization Department, so Wang Mingshan did not ask this question again. As a member of the Standing Committee, probably ranked second, he was actually able to work as the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee to accumulate experience. Wang Mingshan admired Wei Changrong's open-mindedness and decided to use Wei Changrong as his role model.
Wei Changrong also did not say something. This time, he was first appointed as the Secretary of the Guangdong Political and Legal Committee. According to the plan of "send him to the horse, help him along the way", Wei Changrong first learned from Wang Mingshan and the others and familiarized himself with the situation in Guangdong. After accumulating experience and letting everyone familiarize themselves with Wei Changrong, Wang Mingshan and the others could go to the central government to work. Vézé had always been willing to learn from other people's experience, and Wei Changrong also agreed with Vézé's method.
After talking for a while about the skills of personnel work, Wang Mingshan felt very tired. The job of explaining the difficult situation in Guangdong was given to Pang Congcong.
Pang Congcong directly told Wei Changrong the biggest comprehensive problem at the moment. That was the coal gas supply plan that Guangzhou City had first started.
The economy of an industrial area could not just rely on the local area. With so many people living in the city, the demand for living fuel was huge. The Hongji Coal Mine in Vietnam was more than 100 kilometers long and 152 kilometers wide, with more than 20 billion tons of reserves. Without this coal mine, there would be no rapid industrial development in Guangdong. Even the greening project proposed by Guangdong to eliminate barren hills relied heavily on the supply of this coal mine.
With the improvement of the industrial level, the industrial department was desperately trying to reduce the cost of hot-dip galvanized pipes. Once this cost could be mass-produced, the entire Guangzhou city would begin to supply coal gas to gradually replace the more wasteful and inefficient honeycomb briquette.
This was a huge challenge, but it was also the foundation for Guangzhou and even Guangdong's industry to reach a higher level. According to Vézé's theory, the emergence of new technologies and industries would lead to the development of the entire economy. Not to mention, coal gas was bound to lead to a change in the entire society's lifestyle.
"We've been working on coal gas for a long time, and there are a lot of technical hurdles. So far, the number of direct deaths has almost reached 100 people. Those people were all technical personnel, and it made our hearts ache! "Pang Congcong subconsciously rubbed his temples when he mentioned the price paid. The industrial exhibition not only brought convenience and productivity, but just like the practical actions of other practitioners, the process was far from glamorous. The establishment of the industrial department, the development of industrial technology, all had to explore the theory in the dark. In addition to a large amount of investment, the technical points and safety standards had to be paid with a lot of blood.
Electrical research led to electrocution, and coal gas research risked gas poisoning and gas explosion. Vézé could put forward the theory and point out the danger. But without experiencing it himself, he had no idea why it came from or how it came to be.
"This also involves technical confidentiality." Wei Changrong's perspective was still very different from Pang Congcong's, but he spoke from a different perspective.
Wang Mingshan listened and nodded. "Yeah, we investigated the leak a while ago and found out that the British are stealing everything. Not only do they steal our military intelligence, but they also steal our technical intelligence. I didn't expect our confidentiality to be full of loopholes. "
Wei Changrong looked at the two young provincial leaders and couldn't help but laugh. "This isn't just that. The British know our intelligence. If their fleet blockades our route to Vietnam and Siam, what do you think will happen? "
Wang Mingshan and Pang Congcong were stunned. They weren't soldiers, and the military was under the control of the military commission and the military, so they didn't think much about it.
Wei Changrong said seriously, "If the coal from Hongji Coal Mine and the rice from Vietnam and Siam can't be transported to the Southeast, not only Guangdong, but the entire Southeast's economy will be greatly affected. The people's lives will immediately plummet. "
With Vézé's previous explanation, Wang Mingshan and Pang Congcong immediately understood what Wei Changrong was referring to. The stability of the Southeast's economy was largely based on the rice from Vietnam and Siam. Once there was a shortage of rice, the Southeast would immediately see food prices skyrocket. Guangzhou had a population of over a million. Without coal, Wang Mingshan and Pang Congcong couldn't think of how to supply the entire city with fuel. Cutting down trees? Perhaps this could temporarily solve the urgent problem, but the greening efforts of Guangdong would be completely ruined.
Wang Mingshan and Pang Congcong went to be the director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and the other to the Central Bank. This was because Vézé valued the two's rich experience in governing the industrial province. After understanding that a large country like China's economy had such a flaw, the two's expressions became very serious.
After years of construction, Guangdong's ability to defend against direct invasion by foreign enemies was very strong. Foreign enemies couldn't defeat China's powerful army, and invading China was equivalent to suicide. This kind of thinking wasn't only logical in the minds of Wang Mingshan and Pang Congcong, but the entire party, government, and military system in Guangdong thought so. But after careful analysis, the enemy didn't need to directly attack China. They only needed to stab the weak points of China's economy, and China's economy would have a huge problem.
"Don't we also have the navy?" Wang Mingshan half reminded and half encouraged Wei Changrong.
"Yes, the navy has been practicing to attack the enemy's shipping routes recently. The goal is not to fight the enemy's fleet, but to attack the enemy's merchant fleet along the shipping routes and destroy the enemy's shipping routes. We just started practicing this now. You should know that the British have been playing this game for hundreds of years. "Wei Changrong gave a very clear answer.
The economy and the war were closely intertwined, and together they supported the hegemony of the British. Controlling the navigation rights of a certain area of the ocean and being able to exclude the navies of other countries meant that the country would become the hegemon of the waters. Being able to sail freely on all the oceans in the world, and being able to attack the enemies in the sea at any time, that was the hegemon of the world.
Wang Mingshan and Pang Congcong, who were about to go to work in the central government, listened to Wei Changrong's explanation of the strategy, and they understood. Originally, the two thought that Wei Changrong was following them to learn how to govern a province. Now they finally understood that Wei Changrong also had the responsibility of education. Perhaps Wei Changrong was not familiar with the local work, and Wang Mingshan and Pang Congcong also knew nothing about the central government's work. Especially at the strategic level of the central government, the two had even less experience.
Wang Mingshan suddenly understood something. He got up and took out a world map. Pointing at the "future China territory" that Vézé once mentioned, Wang Mingshan said excitedly, "If our territory reaches this level, other than our core areas that can be protected, we will have a very reliable base of operations when we want to enter most of the world."
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